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Students at Renbrook School are learning life lessons from the new technology. (Published Wednesday, March 5, 2014)

In the age of technology, many expect 3D printing will be the future of manufacturing. And while it may indeed seem futuristic, students at Renbrook School in West Hartford are ahead of the curve.

Students at the private school, which includes ages 3 through grade 9, are already mastering the technology and learning life lessons along the way. Science teacher Jean Kracke describes the 3D printer as a “complicated glue gun” creating solid objects using a computer and special printer.

Students have put this technology to good use by fix using the printer to fix broken devices around the school.

“I would use the word ‘amazed’ to describe having 3D printing at our school,” said Dr. Armistead Webster, Head of School at Renbrook.

But students are doing much more than making plastic trinkets: they are problem solving and learning important lessons such as success and failure.

“They like to research and study, and then write down just the right answer and not be wrong. Kids need to learn that in real life, you’re wrong sometimes, in fact often,” said Kracke.

They’re also learning classroom skills like creativity, collaboration and communication.

“All of those kinds of skills go beyond the reading, writing, arithmetic, which we do well, but this is taking it to another level,” said Webster.

Students seem to be enjoying the learning process.

“It definitely is something worth trying because it’s so unique and there’s tons of potential doors to open,” said Sage Sutton-Hall, an eighth grader who used 3D printing to create backup parts for some of the school’s power tools.